Saturday, January 12, 2013

Legs

Today I happened to glance out the window and see five deer. I was surprised, because I rarely see deer on our property - though I see them lots of other places in the neighborhood. They were all really small, and seemed unsure of where to go in the pasture. They went toward the creek but then doubled back ... then they seemed stymied by what to make of the four strand wire electric fence.

I wondered if they were stuck - and then I saw the leader effortlessly jump over the fence. The other four followed. The deer made it look so easy! There was no way our fences would bother them at all.

Later Kris came home with the sad news that one of the heifers in the pasture had broken her leg. It's so rare! Of course we don't know how it happened - whether she got it caught in a crook of a tree while another heifer ran into her ... whether she tripped ... whether she went on a secret late-night ski trip ...

What I do know is that there's no way it happened when she was trying to jump a fence. Sure, deer might be able to clear them, but cattle just plow right through.

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Eight years ago, we quit our corporate jobs and bought a dairy farm in Michigan. We milk cows and raise alfalfa, corn, and three little boys. This year I'm a spokesperson for U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. I love talking about farming - ask me anything!